Seven Days to Live

Tools

Actually, there are second acts in American lives; they just tend to be more low-key. Prince slipped off the charts after his "unpronounceable symbol" phase, but never quit making albums. Steven Georgiou ditched his music career as Cat Stevens, then resurrected it as Yusuf Islam. Even Lindsay Lohan is back in the non-tabloid press, thanks to her spoken-word verse on a new Duran Duran single. And then there's Dave Chappelle. The celebrity comic went into seclusion nearly a decade ago, after becoming convinced he was perpetuating the same stereotypes he set out to satirize. Chappelle's second act finds him scaling back to a microphone, a stage, and a legion of fans who recognize a comic genius when they see one. If you've got the spare cash, you can still find tickets from online resellers for tonight's 7 o'clock show at the Pikes Peak Center (190 S. Cascade Ave., pikespeakcenter.com). — Bill Forman

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Carne Diem Chili Cook-Off

17 Thursday

food

I judged the inaugural Carne Diem Chili Cook-Off in 2013, sampling dozens of chili renditions in a single sitting — no easy task for any palate, considering all the spice. But your $10 today buys you a manageable three bowls of the good, dark, chunky stuff, plus a non-alcoholic beverage, so consider visiting between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. for a fun lunch on the lawn of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum (215 S. Tejon St., cspm.org). All proceeds go toward Colorado Springs Utilities' Project COPE and the hosting museum. All you have to do is pick three from among offerings both amateur and professional. — Matthew Schniper

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Spirits of Colorado Paranormal Convention

18 Friday

ghosts

Today is the first day of the Spirits of Colorado Paranormal Convention at the Imperial Hotel (123 Third St., Cripple Creek). Whatever your reason, be it a love of chills and thrills or a hope that there is some existence beyond death, come on out for a weekend of presentations and haunted tours. Haunted happy hour begins tonight at 7. The weekend culminates tomorrow night, with ghost hunts and tours of the most haunted spots in Cripple Creek running past midnight. Tickets run from $8 to $20. For a complete schedule of events or to register, go to bit.ly/1UIeWld. — Griffin Swartzell

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What If Festival

19 Saturday

innovation

Top off the kids' tanks with waffles and juice then head downtown for a day of wonder at the What If... Festival of Innovation and Imagination. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., spread out all over the middle of the city, will be more than a hundred hands-on/minds-on activities ranging from drone-flying to worm-herding to fossil-fondling to romping with robots. It's a playful melange of engineering, ideas, music, science, food, technology, discovery, history and community, and it's free. This child of the Imagination Celebration gets bigger and better every year, and it's just silly to miss it. Get a map of activities and more information at whatif-festival.org, and take your brain out to play. — Mary Jo Meade

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John Lahr

20 Sunday

stage

John Lahr is everything you could want in a theater critic. He's managed theaters and won a Tony Award for playwriting; penned well-received books on heavyweights like Tennessee Williams and Noel Coward; and carried The New Yorker's theater coverage for more than two decades. And did we mention that he gets out of the city to visit places like TheatreWorks' Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theatre (3955 Regent Circle, theatreworkscs.org)? He'll give a Prologue Lecture there at 2:30 today, before the 4 o'clock production of Coward's Private Lives. Lecture admission is free — just reserve a spot online. — Kirk Woundy

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Autumn Glances

21 Monday

art

It's time for the Regional Fall Art Show and a glimpse of fall presented by the Colorado Springs Art Guild. Autumn Glances has tapped Denver artist Ken Elliott, known for oils, pastels and photography, to jury this year's show and sale at the Manitou Art Center (513 Manitou Ave., manitouartcenter.org). Works will include fine art photography and digital art, two-dimensional paintings and drawings, and three-dimensional art, glass, fiber, sculpture and collage. Enjoy the show from now until Nov. 15, free of charge. — Craig Lemley

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Hammershot

22 Tuesday

music

There's a big metal show at the World Arena tonight, and you know what that means — light traffic for a killer 6:30 gig at Sunshine Studios (3970 Clearview Frontage Road, sunshinestudioslive.com). Hammershot and Short Fuse are both touring bands from the Bay Area, and they'll get support from local metal madmen Six Feet of Anger and Hit the Shadows, as well as Denver-based Dead By Mourning. Go because tickets are only $9 at the door or $6 in advance. Go because small bands and local venues keep the scene alive. Go because life is too short for $40 nosebleed seats. — Griffin Swartzell